I think a few words of context would have been appropriate.
I appreciate your service.
I’m sure there are many, who can’t leave it that would not miss the war.
Slava Ukraini 🙏🇺🇦
First pic goes hard.
To be fair when I transitioned to humanitarian demining from front line work I was pretty happy at first. No moreTBIs, not getting shot at. Then after a couple months you start to miss it. It’s hard for those who haven’t fought to get it. It’s hard when you know your mates are still fighting and keep hearing of injuries and deaths of friends and you are getting days off working relatively safe jobs and having a night life.
It’s not easy dealing with the guilt when you know you could still be doing good work on the front. But as long as you have done good work for the war effort and are able to continue to contribute which can be as simple as texting support to mates and calls to check in and give them shit to lift the mood you are still helping.
When you are on the front you know what you are doing, life is simple stay alive kill orks, keep your mates safe. It’s hard to readjust to life in the rear for sure but eventually you get there. I’m slowly getting there.
Thank you for the sacrifices you’ve made. It sounds like you might be feeling like your life is less meaningful now, but there are many other ways for you to continue to contribute, if you still want to.
Дякую за те що ви зробили. Слава Україні!🇺🇦
The third picture is very beautiful.
You are a badass. The world thanks you
I hope you’re talking to someone professional about it.
Thank you for fighting the good fight for Ukraine. 🇺🇦
Slava Ukraini
I see lots of cope here romanticising war.
That sounds pretty disrespectful dude. “I miss the war….” really? Learn to read the room.
Context because I didn’t spend enough time putting the post together:
I went to Ukraine early on in the war on a WHO contract to work with a medical team. They didn’t do enough meaningful work so I stayed behind after the operation to lead my own ngo. I joined a volunteer battalion pretty quickly[Battalion Spas 23](https://www.instagram.com/battalion_spas?igsh=bnpraGZwd3U3MGQ3))and spent the next almost 2 years on the frontlines pushing every kind of aid short of weapons primarily to the military and special operations units. I had a bad accident in March of 2023 that took me out of commission so I took a few months off before coming back and continuing delivering aid. I also spent a bunch of time with Ukraine Aid Ops and another org distributing millions in medical aid and military aid. Now I’m back stateside getting used to life outside of a warzone which for now feels pretty empty. I’m looking for more opportunities to volunteer my time but I think unfortunately my time in Ukraine is over so I just have my dear memories of it. I still try to do what I can for Ukraine remotely but it’s not the same as being on the ground. Most of the photos I shared are from Bakhmut. You can see a lot more of what I was up to on my Instagram [Mateiescu IG](https://www.instagram.com/mateiescu?igsh=MW9ibGZsZHp2ZTdsYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr) Cheers everyone and thank you for the support.
16 comments
Glad you are safe my guy
I think a few words of context would have been appropriate.
I appreciate your service.
I’m sure there are many, who can’t leave it that would not miss the war.
Slava Ukraini 🙏🇺🇦
First pic goes hard.
To be fair when I transitioned to humanitarian demining from front line work I was pretty happy at first. No moreTBIs, not getting shot at. Then after a couple months you start to miss it. It’s hard for those who haven’t fought to get it. It’s hard when you know your mates are still fighting and keep hearing of injuries and deaths of friends and you are getting days off working relatively safe jobs and having a night life.
It’s not easy dealing with the guilt when you know you could still be doing good work on the front. But as long as you have done good work for the war effort and are able to continue to contribute which can be as simple as texting support to mates and calls to check in and give them shit to lift the mood you are still helping.
When you are on the front you know what you are doing, life is simple stay alive kill orks, keep your mates safe. It’s hard to readjust to life in the rear for sure but eventually you get there. I’m slowly getting there.
Thank you for the sacrifices you’ve made. It sounds like you might be feeling like your life is less meaningful now, but there are many other ways for you to continue to contribute, if you still want to.
Дякую за те що ви зробили. Слава Україні!🇺🇦
The third picture is very beautiful.
You are a badass. The world thanks you
I hope you’re talking to someone professional about it.
Thank you for fighting the good fight for Ukraine. 🇺🇦
Slava Ukraini
I see lots of cope here romanticising war.
That sounds pretty disrespectful dude. “I miss the war….” really? Learn to read the room.
Context because I didn’t spend enough time putting the post together:
I went to Ukraine early on in the war on a WHO contract to work with a medical team. They didn’t do enough meaningful work so I stayed behind after the operation to lead my own ngo. I joined a volunteer battalion pretty quickly[Battalion Spas 23](https://www.instagram.com/battalion_spas?igsh=bnpraGZwd3U3MGQ3))and spent the next almost 2 years on the frontlines pushing every kind of aid short of weapons primarily to the military and special operations units. I had a bad accident in March of 2023 that took me out of commission so I took a few months off before coming back and continuing delivering aid. I also spent a bunch of time with Ukraine Aid Ops and another org distributing millions in medical aid and military aid. Now I’m back stateside getting used to life outside of a warzone which for now feels pretty empty. I’m looking for more opportunities to volunteer my time but I think unfortunately my time in Ukraine is over so I just have my dear memories of it. I still try to do what I can for Ukraine remotely but it’s not the same as being on the ground. Most of the photos I shared are from Bakhmut. You can see a lot more of what I was up to on my Instagram [Mateiescu IG](https://www.instagram.com/mateiescu?igsh=MW9ibGZsZHp2ZTdsYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr) Cheers everyone and thank you for the support.
Glad you’re alive man!
Heroyam Slava!